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The second installation of the ‘Battles of the Bees’ provided little of the excitement of the thrilling first edition as Brentford demonstrated their superiority at last and eventually breezed into the FA Cup’s fifth round.

Having shown such spirit to achieve a 3-3 draw in the first leg, Barnet took too long to get going at Griffin Park, not scoring until they were already three goals down against a composed Championship side.

“We’re pleased with that,” said Thomas Frank, the Brentford head coach. “We saw with the Newport result that it’s not easy in this fantastic, historical cup tournament.”

Strikes from Sergi Canos, Julian Jeanvier and Neal Maupay did the job for Brentford, who are now unbeaten in 10 matches in all competitions under Frank. Non-league Barnet, meanwhile, could at least point to a David Tutonda strike and a much-improved second-half performance as positives to take from one of the club’s biggest-ever matches.

“The players feel like they let the first half slip away and then you have a mountain to climb,” said Darren Currie, the Barnet manager. “They have a lot to be proud of, how they have handled themselves in these games.”

Sergi Canos opened the scoring scoring for BrentfordCredit:
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The ferocity of the first leg had lingered in the build-up to this meeting, thanks primarily to Barnet chairman Tony Kleanthous announcing he will not attend the game in protest at the away side’s ticket allocation. Those fans who did make it to Griffin Park were in good spirits, even when Canos tapped in the opener for the Championship side after just seven minutes.

Barnet had done so well to level the playing field in that 3-3 draw between these sides last month but the gulf in quality here was obvious in the opening exchanges. The second arrived shortly after the half-hour mark, when Said Benrahma’s free-kick was thumped home from close range by Jeanvier.

Barnet mustered a quite sudden change of attitude within seconds of the restart. Medy Elito launched into a horrendous tackle on Canos, prompting a melee that at one point resembled a rugby maul being ushered out of play for a lineout. Elito later told his manager that he had been headbutted. Only three yellow cards ensued, but there could easily have been a couple of reds. “I could see there were some angry players from both sides,” said Frank, with some understatement.

It was not pretty but it showed that Barnet were at least putting up far more of a fight in the second half and when the third arrived for Brentford it came against the run of play. Maupay turned home Henrik Dalsgaard’s right-wing cross, before Tutonda slammed a fine finish into the top corner to give Barnet a moment of fleeting hope at the end.